Owen and his sister Holly have just moved to Nova Scotia from Saskatchewan. It’s December and they miss playing hockey on the lake until their parents surprise them with an innovative idea they materialize with the help of their neighbours.

This is a heartwarming story about hockey, love of family and friends. It’s a good reminder of how creative parents can get when gift-giving. Great gifts don’t always come in a box from an electronic store. The illustrations in the book are warm and convey depth of feeling. There’s a picture that's a close-up of Holly looking out the window, which both my kids loved.

Although I was not a hockey player as a child the way Owen’s sister was, I remember fondly skating out of doors. I also remember when my Dad made us a skating rink in our backyard. My sisters and I were thrilled!

If you have a young hockey player in your family, whether boy or girl, and especially if you are Canadian, you will enjoy the setting and the outcome of this story.

Mike Leonetti has the knack for taking a sports hero and making him come to life through the pages of a book. This, coupled with Greg Banning’s true-to-life stunning illustrations made The Mighty Tim Horton a pleasure to read.

My 6-year-old son loves to skate. He hasn’t played hockey yet, but reading about how Tim Horton’s advice to a boy named Trevor changed how he used his size when playing defenseman for his team, made my son curious about the game. Leonetti has addressed an issue in the hockey sport that has turned off some parents from making their children take up the sport—the violent bodychecks.

Trevor’s Dad explained to Trevor that although Horton was the strongest player in the NHL, he was never mean and he never tried to hurt anyone. And when Trevor meets Horton and then follows his advice on how to play hockey the right way, things start looking up. The story follows Trevor and Horton as they each battle for their own championships. The story offers lessons that young ones can apply to any sport they play. Another great book from Leonetti for all hockey fans, big and small.

If you enjoy books about hockey, you may want to check out The Rocket, also by Mike Leonetti. Read my review of this book here.

Every Saturday, Booking Mama hosts a feature called Kid Konnection—a regular weekend feature about anything related to children's books. If you'd like to participate in Kid Konnection and share a post about anything related to children's books (picture, middle grade, or young adult) from the past week, visit Booking Mama.

Disclosure: Thanks to Nikole Kritikos from Scholastic Canada for sending me these books for review. I was not compensated in any other way, nor told how to rate or review these products.